


The Light has been Broken; the Spell has Begun

by orphan_account



Category: SHINee
Genre: E for Everybody, Just Two Dudes Talking, M/M, halloween fic, nymph!jinki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 12:43:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21208733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: [Jinki] is an Autumn nymph who comes across a beautiful human walking in the woods late on Halloween night.Jonghyun could possibly be having the worst Halloween experience of his young life after deciding to go along with the other freshmen on a walk of courage.  He finds himself not only with a definitely-broken ankle, but cold and alone in the middle of the forest on an impossibly dark Halloween night.





	The Light has been Broken; the Spell has Begun

**Pain. **

That is all the pink-haired man could think about as he continued to limp through the woods. The fact that he was lost in the forest at night was no longer his main issue. Ever since his fall, Jonghyun’s mind was consumed by the fact that his foot was not only bleeding profusely, but most likely severely fractured. If he could think of anything else at the moment, as he limped along hoping to come across any evidence that one of his classmates was nearby, Jonghyun would think about how this wasn’t at all how he thought he'd be spending his first halloween night as a college freshman. He was hesitant at first to go with the other first-years on the highly anticipated Walk of Courage, but senior students made it clear that it was a quick way to easily adjust with the crowd and Jonghyun wanted dearly to make a few friends at this university far from home.

The beginning of the walk was easy enough, groups of two were encouraged to trek together and Jonghyun was paired up with his roommate Kibum. It’d only been a month and a half since they were assigned together, but Jonghyun was confident enough that Kibum wouldn’t leave him stranded in the middle of the woods- especially since Kibum had seemed actually frightened of the idea. That confidence grew during the walk, increasing every time one of the costumed senior students jumped out of their hiding spots or chased after the pair. Jonghyun felt giddy, it reminded him of the fun halloween horror houses of his childhood, it was very apparent Kibum didn’t share the same sentiments- even with Jonghyun reminding him after each ‘scare’ that the vampires and zombie cheerleaders weren’t real. At a later time when Jonghyun’s foot is healed and the freshmen initiation Walk of Courage is a thing of the past, Jonghyun would look at the many times he laughed at Kibum’s freight as the build up that led to his karma. Maybe if he would have done a bit more consoling instead of teasing, he wouldn’t have found himself limping alone in the woods with a broken, bleeding foot on this dark halloween night. 

As much as Jonghyun wanted to be found or find someone, the pain in his foot seemed to increase with every step. It was too much and even his zombie-like limping, that helped to keep some of the weight off, wasn’t enough. Jonghyun hopped on his good foot to the nearest tree and gripped it as he slid down. Sitting on the dirt ground with the tree against his back, Jonghyun looked up at the stars hoping for a distraction from his current situation. His foot was throbbing, his body shaking- who would’ve thought a cow onesie wasn’t the best costume choice for a freezing late-october night?- and his nerves on edge, Jonghyun could feel the panic starting to surface.

He couldn’t blame Kibum. His roommate was scared from the moment they drove the car to the meetup at the base of the mountain. His terror had increased tenfold by the time the duo was chased by the chainsaw-wielding masked man. Even Jonghyun would admit that checkpoint was frightening, that’s why Jonghyun couldn’t blame Kibum letting go of the older man’s arm and dashing off far ahead. In fact, Jonghyun was running at full speed close behind him until tripping over an above ground tree root. The momentum caused him to not only fall but roll down a steep slope. When Jonghyun was able to get his bearings, the only light insight was from the moon above him. There were no signs of the pre-placed lanterns along the path of the Walk of Courage. Jonghyun supposed that the quickest way to get back was to climb up the slope, but it’s steepness and his foot made it impossible for him to do so. 

That’s how he found himself where he is now. After deciding to continue on in the general direction he was going, only 20 or so feet below, Jonghyun walked until he couldn’t anymore. He quickly wiped at his eyes, the hot tears that spilled out quickly cooled because of the freezing temperature. If only the seniors hadn’t confiscated everyone’s phones, he would’ve probably called an ambulance at this point. He felt pitiful, even his butt was starting to freeze because of the forest floor. “It couldn’t possibly get any worse.” he cried softly into his hands.

Jonghyun immediately regretted those curse-like words when a twig snap was heard to his right. His head shot in that direction and he held his breath. Hope that it wasn’t anything flew out the window when another snapping followed and then another after that until a blur of a silhouette could be seen slowly approaching the sitting man. The closer it got the more of it Jonghyun could see, he didn’t know what he’d do if it turned out to be some kind of wolf or bear- even if he could run for it, there’s no guarantee he’d be able to run from it.

“Oh my gosh, thank goodness.” He cried when the figure was close enough that Jonghyun could see it wasn’t a wild animal, but a person. “You found me. I tripped over a stupid root and fell down that cliff. I tried to get back to you guys but my foot is about to fall off. I’ve been stuck here for so long, I thought I was going to have to stay out here until morning.” The person had come to a halt a few feet away while Jonghyun rambled on. The injured man looked up at the other questioningly when he received no sort of response. The anxiety that had nearly diminished once he thought he’d been found was slowly starting to regenerate with every second of silence that passed between the two. The silence was so disconcerting that Jonghyun intensely flinched when the mysterious man crouched down to his level. In the dim moonlight Jonghyun couldn’t see much, only that the other was wearing a costume too- or at least some fake horns- that made him relax once again. This person had to have been a part of the Walk, because there was no other reason anyone would be dressed up in the middle of the woods at night.

“You are hurt.”

It took a minute for Jonghyun to realise the other had finally spoken. “Uh y-yes. I fell, I’ll need help getting back to the others.” The man finally turned his face away from Jonghyun’s injured foot and he was close enough that freshman could make out some of his features; Shaggy hair covering his halloween horns, prominent cheekbones, and dark eyes. It may be a pit of a perk that Jonghyun’s rescuer- from what he could see- appeared to be handsome.

“You are human.”

‘Wait, what?’ “Yes?” Jonghyun replied aloud. He was about to ask what the other meant when the man in front of him sighed exasperatedly and reached for something attached to his side. From what Jonghyun could make out it seemed to be a small cloth sack. The man reached inside and pulled out a handful of who knows what. Jonghyun could only watch confusedly as the man slowly opened his palm to show glowing dust? The injured man’s eyebrows quirked and before he could even think of a question, the other blew the dust into his face and the cow-costume clad freshman saw black.

  
  
  


**Comfort.**

Jonghyun’s whole body was warm, he snuggled more into his comforters, happy to be back in bed. He wondered if maybe the Walk of Courage was just a dream, but as soon as that thought crossed his mind the dull aching of his foot resurfaced. Jonghyun’s eyes snapped open. That wasn’t his ceiling. Quickly sitting up and looking around, he seemed to be in some sort of cabin. His foot and lower leg was wrapped and splinted to halt the bleeding and set the bone. Jonghyun, in his frightened state, was still somewhat grateful that the pain had decreased immensely. From his spot on the bed, he jumped when the front door to the cabin opened. The costumed man from earlier stepped in and closed the door, then quickly shuffled over to the fire to warm his hands.

“October weather is always so confusing. The mornings are warm, but the nights are freezing. I can’t feel my fingers or toes.” The man whined and Jonghyun realized the other was barefooted.

Jonghyun silently watched on, eyes wide, he didn’t know what to expect. He wasn’t even sure if the man was thinking out loud or talking to him, he had yet to look at the injured man since he walked through the door. Jonghyun’s heartbeat picked up even more when the man looked over his shoulder at him expectantly. Jonghyun wasn’t quite sure how he was supposed to respond. “Oh, yeah. I know what you mean. I..” his words died out, he really didn’t know how he was supposed to continue. ‘Who is this man? Is this his house? Does that mean he’s not a student? Am I supposed to be afraid? Is he going to help me get back to the others?’ Those questions ran rampant through his mind? “Who- Is this your home?” Jonghyun quickly asked when the other started towards him.

“mmHmm.” The man answered softly, taking a seat at the end of the bed near Jonghyun’s injured foot.

“I’m.. Jonghyun.” The student wished he would stop stammering. Not even the man’s warm, pretty smile calmed his worries, at least not fully.

“I’m Jinki.”

In the light of the cabin, Jonghyun was able to fully see the other. He had to admit, Jinki’s odd costume contributed greatly to his confusion. He had nothing covering his feet, despite the cold weather, and his sleeveless top and capri bottoms looked to be made of animal skin and furs. If he was dressed up as a wild man, what was the point of the horns? Stretching from the top of his skull and wrapping along the curve of the man’s head, they looked quite realistic. Jonghyun couldn’t even see the band that held them on Jinki’s head, but the man’s thick hair could play a part in that as well. The rustic orange color of Jinki’s hair was just about most ‘normal’ thing to Jonghyun- who colored his hair pink for his 18th birthday some months ago. His analysis of the handsome man’s strange appearance ended abruptly at his next thought. “Did you drug me?!”

Jinki looked startled for a moment before his features turned apologetic. “Yes, I’m sorry. I wanted to help you but I couldn’t show you where I live. It’s against the rules for humans to enter our barrier, I’m already risking so much by you being here.”

“Wait. What? What are you talking about?” Jonghyun had another thing to worry about now, this man was completely delusional. “Why are you calling me a human.. Like you’re not a human too?” He questioned.

“Because I’m not.” Jinki replied with a tilt to his head.

From the look on the orange-haired man’s face, it was apparent he thought Jonghyun was confused one.

“Oh.” Jinki laughed and slapped a hand to his forehead. “I’m so dumb sometimes. I forget that we know all about you, but humans know practically nothing about us.”

Jonghyun’s mind felt clouded. Too many questions spawned and- of all things- now was definitely not the time to be staring at the man’s plump lips. “If you’re not human, what are you?”

“A nymph.”

“Nymph? Like.. a siren but on land?” Jonghyun flinched at the man’s abrupt laughter.

“Is that how humans see us? No-no-no-no,” he laughed, “I’m not trying to seduce you or lure you in, Sirens are a mean bunch. No, my people are a secretive society. We want to stay as far away from humans, and their unnatural ways, as possible .”

“If I were to believe that you are a.. nymph.. why am I here right now if it’s forbidden? and why would a people who wished to remain secret live in a forest this close to the city? People go hiking all the time on this mountain, how have you all been able to stay hidden?”

“Well, Mr. Curious, it just so happens that the veil between our worlds is the thinnest on this very night. Every year, on this day, we are encouraged to keep a low profile and stay in our homes because of the chance of a human spotting us. The only reason I was out tonight was because I stupidly forgot to stock up on firewood. I brought the gold dust just incase I came across any humans, its properties cause anyone to go into a deep slumber. When I spotted you sitting against that tree, looking up at the sky, I intended to walk away.. But.. but then I heard your crying and that’s when I decided to see if I could help you. Even if it’s against the rules, I couldn’t leave you stranded.” 

Jonghyun tried his best to absorb everything Jinki had told him. The expression in the other’s eyes seemed genuine, but Jonghyun couldn’t accept there being a whole hidden world, especially on a night such as this. That is until Jinki put his palm up and a few seconds later, one of the lightbulbs along the edges of the ceiling floated over to rest on it. Jonghyun did a double-take, the light in Jinki’s hand wasn’t a lightbulb- well, not exactly. It was more like a glowing orb of light.. As were the lights above. ‘How were they floating? What kind of technology was this?’ “How,” Jonghyun started again, “How can you prove you are what you say you are?”

Jinki’s halted his inspection of Jonghyun’s foot and lowered his hand, allowing the orb to stay suspended in the air. He supposed he could go all out and reveal everything, it’s not like he intended on Jonghyun being able to remember anything afterwards anyway. The nymph smiled softly. “Ask me anything.”

“How do nymphs know about us, but we think you all are made-up?” Jonghyun felt crazy for even playing along with this idea.

“Simple. We’re able to disguise ourselves and go back and forth between worlds when we choose. Humans, however, can only cross over during All Hallows’ Eve and for those who have ever spotted us, we have an elixir that makes them forget. You all have your ideas about us because I’m guessing somewhere down the line there have been instances when humans never received the elixir or it wasn’t the right kind. Even then, for humans to think of us as ‘made-up’ shows that those instances are rare.” Jinki stopped his chuckle, it was obvious the other still didn’t believe him. “If this helps,” Jinki said while raising his hands towards his horns, “I can show you how easy it is to disguise ourselves.” With a swoop of his hands across his horns, they disappeared.

Jonghyun’s jaw dropped as the horns faded away and the other’s orange hair turned inky-black.

“See? Easy.” The human fainted.

  
  


When Jonghyun awoke for the second time that night, he was we met with a re-horned, orange-haired, nymph rubbing some kind of green balm onto his injured foot. The wrapping was off and the splint to the side as Jinki applied pressure on the appendage. Jonghyun pushed his upper body up, supporting himself on his forearms to get a better look. Jinki had yet to notice the human was up seeing as the horned man continued without looking up. Trying to distract himself from the Jinki’s face [the human wondering if Jinki lied about being a siren] Jonghyun wondered why this deep massage to his broken foot didn’t have him screaming at the top of his lungs. “Why does it feel hot?”

Jinki’s head snapped up at the soft voice, the human was most likely referring to his healing foot. “It’s my magic. The gilead sets in quickly when I apply my heat to it.”

“Magic.” Jonghyun whispered. The sleeping dust, orbs, and disappearing features were enough for Jonghyun to think 3 things; Jinki was telling the truth, Jonghyun was still dreaming and Halloween hadn’t happened yet, or he was just as out-of-it as this random man in the middle of the woods- Hopefully it wasn’t the latter. “So let’s say I- let’s say I believe you.. Now what?”

“Hmm, Well I finish healing you and get you back to wherever you fell from.”

“Really?” Jonghyun sat up.

Jinki couldn’t help but see the disbelief on the others face. ‘Are humans really so distrusting?’

“Yes. I’m creating the elixir as we speak.” He nodded his head as something over his shoulder.

Jonghyun looked over to see a pot hanging above the fire.. Stirring itself. ‘Don’t faint don’t faint’ he chanted in his head, ‘Just a little bit of magic.. Perfectly normal.’ “You want me to drink that?” A new fear.

“You kind of have to. I’d be in real danger if I let a human run around knowing about us. You seem nice and all, but my people are too important for me to risk it.” Jinki stood up and slowly lowered Jonghyun’s foot to the bed. 

The student watched as the other man grabbed the discarded cloth and tossed it into a bin. “Are you not going to re-wrap it?”

“Oh, no. Your foot is mostly healed-”

“What?”

“Yeah, you should be able to get back on your feet within the hour.”

Jonghyun looked down at his balm-covered foot, the swelling had definitely gone down and the pain was numb. “But, it was broken?”

“It was.” Jinki smiled and went to check on the pot. 

Jonghyun watched as the nymph used a ladle to pour the crystal-clear liquid into a wooden bowl. And made his way over. “Wait! Not yet. Not yet okay? Jinki thank you for my foot-healing-thing or whatever but, I mean, I can’t just drink something random. I know it wouldn’t make sense to poison me after healing me, but I don’t know what that is or if I’m allergic or if I’m even awake and if all of this is even real! OW!” Jonghyun shouted and rubbed at his forehead.

The human was getting more frantic by the second, so Jinki’s first reactions was to flick him between the brows.. It worked. “The only thing I can do is give you my word I’m afraid. It saddens me to see that humans can’t trust anyone. I know I’m a stranger, but I’ve brought you into my home and I’ve healed your foot. I’ve shown and told you who I am, Jonghyun,” Jinki gave him a pitiful smile, “I don’t know what more I can do to prove to you that I mean no harm.” Jinki once again sat at the foot of the bed. “Oh! I’ve got a hunting knife near my nightstand.. I- I guess you can hold that close to you if it'll make you feel safer.”

After a moment of silence Jonghyun responded, “How do I know you won’t use your magic to fight back?”

Jinki was just about to give up when he saw the teasing spark in the other’s eyes. “I’ll have you know my magic is of the healing sector, it's harmless. Outside of that, I can do a little telekinesis.. But what self-respecting magic practitioner can’t?”

“The fact that you just said that like it’s the most simple thing in the world is mind boggling to me.” Jonghyun shook his head. After Jinki’s speech, Jonghyun realized that the other did, in fact, go out of his way to help him- and all the nymph asked in return was a bit of trust.

“Well,” Jinki smiled softly at the other, it was obvious the human had calmed down some. “We do have about an hour before you’re ready to walk, you can ask me about anything.”

° ° °

The human's laughter gave Jinki butterflies, he didn't know what was more endearing; the sound of the laughter or how the human used his small hand to cover his big smile as he laughed. "I'm telling the truth," Jinki laughed along with him, "I disguise myself almost every week for those buns."

"Rain or Shine?" Jonghyun teased while swiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

"Nothing will get between me and Bang's Buns. One thing I'm confident in saying about humans is that your food is better than ours. It's a whole new world, the first time I tried fried food was when I was able to venture though the veil when I became an adult."

Jonghyun's eyes widened. "So until then you just ate berries and hunted animals?"

"Hey! We have crops too." 

Jonghyun laughed harder at Jinki's fake defensiveness. The pair had been talking for well over two hours, the human could feel his foot was healed, but he didn't want to leave and forget everything just yet. 

Jinki took this break in the conversation to check the clock. It would be dawn in a few hours and someone could drop by, if they spotted a human here Jinki could face exile or worse. His smile faltered, Jinki couldn't remember the last time he laughed this much. Even if things started off rocky in the beginning, once Jonghyun was able to give Jinki the benefit of the doubt, it was smooth sailing from there. The nymph felt comfortable with him- and it didn't hurt that this human was undeniably beautiful. They talked about magic (the different types of it and how even some humans are able to practice it), the differences in their upbringings, their different cultures and food. The topic of food is where they connected the most, both being great appreciators and experimenters of all types. Jinki let Jonghyun try xýlo, a nymphic delicacy. Jonghyun was hesitant only because it looked like tree bark, that caused Jinki to laugh. As it turned out, it was, but an entirely edible tree bark found only on the Dryia tree. Jonghyun fell in love with it the moment he bit down on it's cracker-like surface. They even learned Jonghyun's university wasn't too far from Jinki's favorite eatery, a local bread bakery, not that they'd be able to meet up once the night was through. Jinki stood up with a sigh, it was now or never. "Let's see how you can stand on it." He offered Jonghyun a hand and the human took it.

With a gentle pull, Jonghyun was on his feet, wobbly only slightly. He looked down as he wiggled the toes on his left foot, bending and twisting it any way he could. Jonghyun felt giddy and he quickly looked up at Jinki with a smile "It's perfectly heal-" Their proximity to one another should've been obvious given they've been holding hands since Jinki helped Jonghyun stand, but Jonghyun didn't know it was this close. Looking up at Jinki, he suspected the nymph looked pretty at a any angle. "You're really handsome." Jonghyun's eyes widened and he yanked his hand out of Jinki's grasp to smack himself on the mouth. "Forget I said that." He mumbled through his fingers.

Jinki laughed awkwardly, releasing Jonghyun's other hand and slightly turning away. He could feel his ears burning, "You are uh- quite, you're beautiful too."

Jonghyun looked down, "Thanks." Hoping to lighten the atmosphere, he joked, "And you say you're not a siren."

"You can't imagine how insulting that is. My people are so tame, it's a compliment to be called boring." 

The shorter man laughed at Jinki's exaggeration, "So it's a cultural thing? Not just you?"

Jinki scoffed and quickly walked over to fetch the elixir. "You know what, here. Drink up. You're getting too comfortable insulting me." Watching the other do his best to grab the bowl while quieting his laughter, Jinki secretly wished it'd spill and he'd have to start over again. Anything to stretch out their time, but they were risking it enough as it is.

Once Jonghyun's giggles had settled, he realized this was it. Looking down into the clear liquid, a quick rundown of tonight's events ran through his head [how he wishes he didn't fight so much at the beginning]. But, he didn't want Jinki to get in trouble and he just now realized someone could be looking for him. With that in mind, he took a deep breath and nodded his head before looking up at Jinki. "How long will this take to go into effect?" The fact that Jinki looked as regretful as Jonghyun felt, made him feel a little better.

"Almost immediately." The nymph smiled sadly.

"Okay then." Jonghyun gave himself no time to think before chugging the whole drink. He placed the bowl down and looked up at Jinki. 'To hell with it.' he thought before standing on his tip-toes and kissing Jinki on the lips. "Thank you for healing me." His smile widened when Jinki gave him a pretty, shining smile in return. Jonghyun soon enough realized how 'immediate' the elixir started working, by the time the other walked away and returned with a small sack, Jonghyun had forgotten his name. "I'm glad this wasn't a dream." the human quickly said before he forgot anything more. The orange-haired man smiled sadly at him while reaching into the sack. Jonghyun was confused, 'Where am I?' he wondered before golden dust blew into his face, the last thing he felt before passing out was a pair of strong arms holding him up.

  
  


**Confusion.**

Jonghyun's left foot was freezing, everything was foggy; his mind and literally his surroundings. It was nighttime- or early morning?-and he was in the woods- why? Everything was disorienting, all he could do was continue to limp forward. He heard shouts ahead and several lights pointed in several directions. The closer he got to it, the more it started to sound like people were calling his name. A particularly bright light shone right into his face, followed by the rest pointing right at him. Next thing he felt was a body slamming into his.

“Oh my god Jonghyun, where have you been?!” Kibum cried as he frantically hugged his roommate.

“I-?”

Kibum pulled back to observe him, keeping his hands on the Jonghyun’s shoulders. “Are you alright?”

Jonghyun looked from Kibum’s face to the equally worried faces of the freshmen and seniors surrounding him. “Yes, I’m okay.”

“Where were you- and.. What happened to your shoe?”

Jonghyun looked down slowly, ‘Oh, that’s why my foot is cold.’ he thought. “I don’t know.”

“I wonder if he hit his head.” Came an unfamiliar voice to the right.

Kibum shrugged off his jacket and swung it over Jonghyun’s shoulders.

One of the seniors softly clapped Jonghyun’s back. “Come on bud, let’s get you back to Campus.”

  
  


It took days for Jonghyun’s mind to clear up and even then he couldn’t recall what had happened during the 6 hours he was missing. All he could recall was feeling pain, comfort, and then confusion.

On his way back from his advisors office, he heard something that made him halt.

“I guess you could take it to the lost and found, that’s at the end of the hall.”

A male voice responded to the female voice’s suggestion, “Thank you.”

Jonghyun turned around just in time to see a handsome man pass by with a shoe- eerily similar to the one he lost in the woods- in his hands. There was something about the man and is inky black hair that made Jonghyun want to call out to him. The stranger was getting further and further away, even his broad shoulders seemed familiar. A flash of holding onto similar ones in the middle of woods shot through Jonghyun’s mind. ‘What is going on?’ “Hey!” He chanced before the stranger went too far. The man stopped at his voice and turned around. Jonghyun’s heart skipped a beat, he wondered if it was because the other was so attractive. The odd familiarity he felt for this individual only increased when the black-haired man smiled.

**Remembrance.**

Such a pretty smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Pain. Comfort. Confusion. Remembrance.
> 
> Thank you for reading  
I hope you were able to enjoy it :)
> 
> •°•Please tell me what you did or didn't like•°•
> 
> Sorry there wasn't a lot of romance X/


End file.
